There are those who say....I reject the view that....There are those who insist....that Obama's Strawman needs some recognition

Scott Stanzel has taken exception to Time magazine naming noted counterfeiter Ben Bernanke as Person Of The Year.


Who did Stanzel nominate? One of my favorite whipping boys: Barack Obama's Straw Man.

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Straw Man should be the person of the year. He’s been employed by President Obama so much this year that he is certainly the busiest person in Washington. As the president has advocated his bloated stimulus package, his government intrusion into health care and his plans to return us to a pre-9/11 security mindset by treating terrorists as common criminals, Straw Man has provided the perfect foil for the president’s arguments. Straw Man deserves the Person of the Year recognition, particularly because he is rarely named. Most of the time he is referred to by his nicknames “some say” or “those who say.” Witness how busy Straw Man has been in 2009, as President Obama takes on his greatest hits:

Obama: “There are those who say these plans are too ambitious.”

Obama: “I know some folks on Wall Street who say we should just focus on their problems.”

Obama: “There are those embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: anything goes.”

Obama: “There seem to be a set of folks, and I don’t doubt their sincerity, who just believe we should do nothing.”

Obama: “"I reject the view that . . . says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity."

Obama: "A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy."

Obama: "We have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."

Obama: “There are those who insist that we be defined by our differences.”

Obama: "Of course, there are some critics, always critics, who say we can't afford to take on these priorities.”

Obama: "A philosophy that says every problem can be solved if only government would step out of the way; that if government were just dismantled, divvied up into tax breaks, and handed out to the wealthiest among us, it would somehow benefit us all. Such knee-jerk disdain for government -- this constant rejection of any common endeavor -- cannot rebuild our levees or our roads or our bridges."

Straw Man’s influence in Washington is at an all time high. He deserves to be the person of the year.

Brilliant.

I'm The Strawman, Part 2

I'm getting tired of The Teleprompter Jesus calling me out during his speeches....



For starters, there are plenty of people who think the government should be doing a lot less. Stating that fact after the idiocy of the past two weeks seems unnecessary.

But can the man not advocate a position without his now-patented "There are those who say...." fill-in-the-blank horse manure?
"There are those who say.... that we should allow orphans to starve, but I say we should spend two trillion dollars on orphan programs in Senator Dodd's district."
"There are those who say.... that we should use Canada for nuclear target practice, but I say we should send Canada a really nice card this year."
"There are those who say.... that I have too much faith in Tim Geithner, but I say 'Heck of a job, Timmy."

And on and on and on.

I'm The Strawman

What is a Strawman? What is a Strawman argument?
A "Strawman" argument, according to Freethoughtpedia, is a classic logical fallacy where a person manufactures a caricature (usually a misinterpretation or oversimplification) of his opponent's argument, and then sets out to attack or dismiss the exaggeration. i.e. Building a straw man and then knocking it down.
This is a very dishonest line of argument, since a person puts words into his opponent's mouth then ridicules them.

President Obama has received a lot of criticism in the last two weeks for relying on Strawman arguments.

Here's Jay Cost at the RCP Horserace Blog:

Some of the criticisms really are with the basic idea that government should intervene at all in this moment of crisis. Now, you have some people, very sincere, who philosophically just think the government has no business interfering in the marketplace. And, in fact, there are several who've suggested that FDR was wrong to interfere back in the New Deal. They're fighting battles that I thought were resolved a pretty long time ago.

As I said, the one concern I've got on the stimulus package, in terms of the debate and listening to some of what's been said in Congress, is that there seems to be a set of folks who -- I don't doubt their sincerity -- who just believe that we should do nothing.

Mr. Cost then goes on to claim that no one genuinely advocates that position!

Another example....Here's Karl Rove writing in the Wall Street Journal:

On Tuesday night, Mr. Obama told Congress and the nation, "I reject the view that . . . says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity."

Rove then goes on to state "Who exactly has that view? Certainly not congressional Republicans, who believe that through reasonable tax cuts, fiscal restraint, and prudent monetary policies government contributes to prosperity."

(Can ANYONE tell me what Republicans are supposed to know and believe about "fiscal restraint and prudent monetary policies" ????)

Jay Cost and Karl Rove are badly mistaken when they accuse Obama of rhetorical trickery in these cases.

I hold the view, along with many other libertarians, that most of the government should call in sick for the next six to twelve months. Take some time off. Since they are incapable of doing no harm, the least they could do for us is nothing.

Please. Do nothing.

Not only is President Obama's argument not a rhetorical "Straw Man", but he's basically daring the spineless Republicans to advocate what a few of them know to be right.

And the Republicans are now claiming that nothing of the sort has ever crossed their minds.

Amazing.